Former The Last of Us developer says Neil Druckman told him Ellie was

Former The Last of Us developer says Neil Druckman told him Ellie was

Ellie draws a bow against a snowy background
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

  • Former Naughty Dog developer Gabriel Betancourt claims Neil Druckmann told him there were ‘several’ immune people in The last of us
  • Betancourt remembers Druckmann saying, “There’s a whole congregation of that kind of person” in the gaming world.
  • He adds that Druckmann wanted to tell a story “with several characters”.

Former Naughty Dog lighting artist Gabriel Betancourt said The last of us Series creator Neil Druckmann told her that Ellie wasn’t the only immune person in the game world.

If you know The last of usyou will know that Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps infection that has ravaged the world. In the game, Joel’s mission is to deliver her to the Fireflies across America so the rebel group can use her to create a cure.

However, spoiler alert, Joel discovers that creating a cure means Ellie will die in the process, so he kills all the fireflies and takes her in an act of love, a controversial decision that also has major repercussions in The Last of Us Part 2.

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Joel is believed to have taken away humanity’s only chance of finding a cure, since Ellie is the only immune person in the world. Or is she?

According to Betancourt, in a recent interview with Kiwi Talkz, Druckmann told him that there were “several people” in the world who were immune to the infection.

#206 – Interview with Gabriel Betancourt on Naughty Dog, Last Of Us, Neil Druckmann, Lighting, Nintendo – YouTube

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The developer explained that before leaving the studio in 2019, he had a conversation with Druckmann about keeping Ellie as the only person immune, because otherwise it would decrease. The last of us‘ ending.

Betancourt remembers Druckmann saying, “There’s a whole congregation of these kinds of people,” that is, immune people, and he wanted “to tell a more sophisticated story.” I want to tell a story with multiple characters and kind of expand on that.”

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“I felt like the mainstay of the story was that Ellie was the only person who had the cure,” Betancourt said. “And so protecting her and making sure she gets to where she needs to go to save humanity – because without a cure, life is hopeless – that’s what created the gravity of this world. That’s the context that made that The last of us special.”

The concept of additional immune people did not become a point of intrigue in The Last of Us Part 2and it remains unclear whether Druckmann intends to follow through on his comments.

It’s been years since Betancourt’s conversation with the current Naughty Dog boss, so it’s possible that ideas have changed, evolved, or been abandoned altogether.

While a third The last of us While the game hasn’t been announced yet, Neil Druckmann has seemingly teased the future of the PlayStation series, writing on social media about “a few stops left on the road.”

Druckmann has already mentioned the possibility of The Last of Us Part 3 rumors, saying: “the only thing I would say is don’t bet there will be more”Last of Us.’ This could be it.” However, the director’s statement contradicts what he previously said about the possibility of there being “one more chapter to this story.”

Currently, Naughty Dog is developing its new single-player game for the PS5, Intergalactic: the heretic prophet.


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Demi is a freelance gaming journalist who helps cover gaming news at TechRadar. She has been a games editor for five years and has written for outlets including GameSpot, NME and GamesRadar, covering news, features and reviews. Aside from writing, she plays a lot of role-playing games and talks way too much about Star Wars on X.